Natural Hospitality Ch 01

LAST DAYS IN THE CAFE

Donna is getting ready to start her regular day in the cafe as usual. Preparing cleaned dishes, placing them on the bar and cups by the coffee machine. You can smell the delicious smells coming from the kitchen, where Amin prepares baked goods and pastries. They always open from 7:00 in the morning and have a special breakfast menu until 11:30. She has been working as a waitress for almost 4 years. She likes it here because the work is close to home. Although the salary is not high, the tips keep your head above water. The customers like Donna too, because she is polite, able to serve a person without causing problems, and if there are problems, she always solves them in favour of the client, so that she is satisfied. For that reason she had left her previous job because the owner of a restaurant wasn't happy because of her dedication to restaurant guests. It always seemed to her that the customer pays money and should be properly served, it was a natural mindset for her.

Later, ~10:30 the cafe is full of people. Most of them are local guys, living in the neighbourhood. Each day they come in groups: from 7 to 8:30 ordinary workers, drivers, builders; later coming elderly people. All of them know each other, not personally even but they can recognise each other, same faces for so many years.

Why the last days? In the next few weeks this cafe will close and one of the chain coffee houses will open here. Menu, furniture, dishes will be different. People also. Donna received layoff notice 6 weeks ago. Regular customers know about cafe closing and are upsit a little.

DONNA and HER FAMILY

Donna has two daughters: Jade and Ella. Jade is 22 years old, finished college and working as a nurse in a private retirement home. She lives separately, she rents an apartment with her roommate. Ella is 16 years old, studies at school, lives together and plays tennis for many years. Moreover, tennis is very important in this family, everyone plays at least once a week. This is a legacy of Donnaa's grandfather, who was once a professional player and has established a private tennis academy where the whole family can enjoy the game of tennis. Also all family members have got yearly dividends from the tennis academy, and it helps Donna's to send daughters to college.

Donna Miller is 46 years old, divorced last 5 years. She is a tall woman, 178 cm height, ~70 kg weight. She has long, wavy black hair, naturally sparkling, even when they are loose. Breast size 30C, round buttock, a little wide waist. Like one of Donna's friends described that her strongest point in seducing men is her cute face, sexy legs and a round butt when she bends down, they were a little drunk of course. Regular tennis helps her maintain these physical forms. Despite the births, long working hours, not always healthy food.

1st MEETING WITH WILMA and MAUREEN

Wilma and Maureen were regular coffee customers, coming a few times per week. They have been friends for many years. Both ladies are aged 60 plus. Wilma has shoulder-length silver hair, slim body and is tall maybe a few centimetres shorter than Donna. Maureen has below the shoulder line length brown hair, tied to the till. She is ~160 cm tall, and is one of those busty ladies with round shapes.

Ladies ordered cappuccino coffee for Maureen and black tea with lemon for Wilma, hot zucchini and pumpkin pie with eggs and waited when dishes should be served. Donna brought the dishes and placed them from the tray next to each, she smiled and asked:

"There you go. Let me know if you need something more?," was standing and waiting for an answer.

Maureen looked at her smiled and said:

"Thank you darling, you are very kind to us." She paused but kept looking into her eyes. "Can I ask you something?"

Donna instantly answered:

"Sure. How can I help you?"

"How do you feel when you know that this place will be closed soon?," asked Maureen. She looked worried. "Do you have any job offers?"

From the expression on Donna's face, it was clear that she was not pleased with this question. But she tried to keep smiling.

"Nothing serious," said Donna. She looked around to see if anyone was calling her at the moment and if anyone needed her. "I didn't check job ads carefully, I was busy here and with my homeworks."

"Do you have a minute and could sit with us?," asked Wilma.

Donna looked around again, took a chair and sat down. "Sure, I have served all the tables already so I have a few minutes or less," said with a smile.

Maureen looked at her and took her hand. "We see you here some years, you are very pleasant and good working. And we are worried about your future," said Maureen. "You are a young woman who works hard, and these days such people are rare," continued Maureen.

"It's hard, but I'll somehow find a way out," said Donna. "No one wants to employ a single mother with a teenage daughter. And I'm not so young by the way," Donna paused and looked at Maureen. "I'm forty six years old, already."

Wilma and Maureen looked at each other, smiled. "Darling, you are young enough. Don't give up," said Wilma. "By the way, what did you mean about your homeworks?," asked Wilma.

"That's what I call my hobby. I make various jewellery from leather. I do that in the evenings," said Donna. She took her smartphone from her pocket and showed the ladies some pictures. "You see, I have some photos. It's not a perfect quality, my daughter makes it better than me. You know, all this Instagram and TikTok generation knows how to make impressive photos."

The ladies started looking at the photos on the phone, they seemed curious. Unexpectedly, Wilma turned her attention to one massive necklace. She said nothing and stared at it for a while. The jewellery was black leather, almost 5 cm width, with sequins and a large black stone in the middle.

"It looks like it should be snug enough around the neck. It should even be a bit restrictive," asked Wilma. She started touching her neck with the fingers of her left hand and seemed to be trying to embrace him.

"Agree. I don't know how it should be worn every day," Maureen joined the conversation.

"But it's very nice. It looks very luxurious and mysterious," said Wilma.

"Indeed," said Maureen positively.

"Did you make this jewellery for yourself or someone else?," asked Wilma.

"No, it's not for anyone specific. I just made it inspired by the Games of Thrones series. We watched it with my daughter, " said Donna and smiled. "I'm selling my handicrafts on Etsy, so this one should be ready for the public, after photosession."

Wilma handed the phone back to Donna, looked at Maureen, then back at Donna. "Can you send me these photos of your handicrafts? Or you can send me a link to your Etsy."

"Sure, give me your phone number. Do you use WhatsApp?," asked Donna.

"Yes, of course." Answered Wilma and said her phone number.

After a few moments, Donna excused herself and left the ladies alone as one table needed to be cleaned and prepared for other customers. She went back to the ladies after 10 minutes to take the dishes. Wilma suddenly took Donna's hand and looked into her eyes and said, "Darling, if you don't have a specific good offer yet, I could offer you something similar to what you're doing here, but not with food. Would you like to know more?"

"Sure, why not," Donna answered instantly. It seemed that it was unexpected for her, but she was smiling again.

"When does your work end and when could we have a little more time?," asked Wilma.

Donna didn't answer for a while and thought, "Until eleven thirty we serve the breakfast menu, after we have lunch until two in the afternoon.," she paused. "Usually from eleven thirty to twelve I help Amin in the kitchen but we could talk at that time, he will take care of himself."

"Great. I will wait you here," said Wilma.

"Okay. Do you want more tea?," asked Donna and left the ladies when Wilma nodded with a smile.

JOB OFFER

Donna finished collecting all the dishes from the tables. She started cleaning the tables quickly with a wet cloth. She went to the kitchen for a while and came back without an apron, with a cup of coffee in his hands, and sat down next to Wilma. She was wearing a light blue polo shirt, all three buttons were unbuttoned, the shirt was tight and exposed her chest, not flat stomach. He also wore black jeans and black sneakers. She was definitely not fat. A normal woman whose figure was like other girls of a similar age, maybe only her chest and butt looked a little disproportionately bigger than her body should be.

Both did not say a word, their eyes were lowered to the table, they only looked at each other from time to time. There was a little awkward silence.

Finally, Donna started the conversation first, "What kind of job do you have to offer?." She paused and continued, "Do you also work in the service sector?"

Wilma didn't answer immediately, seems to be thinking for the right words. She took a cup of tea, put the cup to her lips and drank a little, keeping her eyes on Donna the whole time.

"My husband and I own a small craft shop not far from here. Up to ten minutes away," finally said Wilma. "I'm sixty two years old, my husband Ian is twelve years older. And we need some help because we don't want to spend all day in the shop."

"What kind of shop do you own?" asked Donna.

Wilma didn't answer right away again, just sighed. "My husband is a master leatherworker. He does it all his life. Over twenty years ago, a leather goods factory closed and everyone was laid off. Then we decided to open our own workshop, Ian and after hours loved to work with leather, a bit with wood and create exceptional high quality products. Thus, his hobby became the main source of our incomes."

"What kind of goods does he make?" asked Donna.

"Very specific. Not for mainstream use?" answered Wilma and lowered his eyes again. After such a pause, she put the cup down and said "Listen, Donna, I trust you and I'm still not afraid to reveal to you what Ian and I do for a living and what our source of income is."

Now Donna is becoming especially interesting and intriguing even more than before. "What kind of secret trade could this lovely cool lady be running?," thought Donna.

"You are welcome to see our shop. It's hard for me to explain.," said Wilma. "When will you finish your job today?" asked Wilma.

"We will close at two in the afternoon. So I should be free in two thirty," answered Donna.

Wilma smiled as if she had heard some very good news. "Great, I will come here and I will walk you to our workshop," Wilma said happily. "But I'm so sorry I didn't ask you, are you free today and will you have time?" she asked, already worried.

"Sure, I'm free until four pm. But please tell me more about this job..." said Donna and moved closer to Wilma. "What kind of job? What should I do there? What do you expect from me?" asked Donna again.

"Nothing serious or unusual for you. Just customer service, offer products and talk about, explain the differences and benefits. You are just made for this kind of work and I think you will handle it perfectly." answered Wilma holding Donna's hand. "Ian produces goods in the same house just on the other side of the inner courtyard. I helped him. So if you need help, we will be there." explained sincerely Wilma. She took a pen and a piece of paper from her purse, "Donna, we are small business and I can't always call a business, perhaps, rather craftsmen. But we want to share our success with you. So my suggestion would be...," and she started writing on the paper:

€400 per week

Tuesday-Saturday

10:00-16:00 not strict, flexibly

5% bonus per each good

all tips - yours

for your personal use - almost all products are free

Donna looked carefully at what was written, it looked like a job offer with conditions. But she is even more confused than before.

FIRST VISIT

Donna closed the window blinds and locked the coffee. She went outside, wearing a rain and wind jacket, unbuttoned and carrying a large grey handbag. Wilma was near the coffee already. She came closer and hugged Donna. This was unusual for Donna, it's not often that clients hug her, but it was kind of nice. They started walking and talking about all kinds of things, like the weather and the traffic jams in the streets. Until finally they came to a house on which there was a sign with the inscription "IAN'S WORKSHOP. LEATHER AND MORE."

"She was right, it is no more than a ten-minute walk from the caffe," thought Donna. They walked into the building. It was dark inside, Wilma turned on the light and after could see what was inside. The room was without windows, the lighting was not enough to illuminate the room well, like twilight. In the middle of the room was a shelf with goods, all the goods were not covered. Some goods are hung, others are placed on the surface. Along the walls were even more shelves of merchandise. In the corner was a bar table with a cash register. Everything smelled of leather. Fresh leather. Donna loved this scent, always. She came closer by the shelf and looked what's inside. There were at least ten different ones. The crops. All hung vertically, handles at the bottom, with a clip attached at the top.

"Why couldn't she say that they sell riding equipment? Why should it be so mysterious?" thought Donna. She went to the other shelves.

"So you're in the riding's stuff business, right?" asked Donna.

"Not exactly, but of course, some are also suitable for riding." answered Wilma there was a smile in her voice.

And after these words, Donna froze. And only now she sees and understands what kind of goods are there. She still can't believe what she's seeing. She decided not to ask any more questions and just went from one shelf to the next, looking carefully at the items and trying to touch each one.

On one shelf placed whips, different length, different colours, different thickness and pattern. All are twisted into a spiral placed on a shelf 45° angle. A little upper are different whips, shorters with multiple tails. All hung vertically, handles at the top. Donna touched the tails of a whip, "Really high quality material.," thought Donna. She went to yet another shelf, where some strange costumes were hung. At the sale's table there were brackets on the wall, two in a line with a gap of ~20 centimetres, there were ten sets in a column.

"What should be placed here?" thought Donna. "And where is Wilma?," she thought and immediately saw Wilma standing at the door. "She must have been standing here the whole time watching me." thought Donna again.

Donna flinched when the door suddenly opened loudly. A man came through the door, older, in his hands he carried some wooden objects, like sticks.

"Ian, let me introduce her, this is Donna. From the cafe, I mentioned her for you," said Wilma coming closer.

"So this is Ian, her husband," thought Donna.

Ian put the wooden things on the table and came closer. He looks 70 plus years old, taller than Donna. Although old, but with broad shoulders. He held out his hand to her and said "I'm Ian, nice to see you." She gave him her hand and he shook it very lightly. "I'm glad that you are here. We are looking for the right person to help us here and Wilma mentioned that you are perfect in dealing with people" said Ian.

"Thank you, I'm Donna by the way," she smiled at him. "I see you have many leather's products there, all of them are high quality and perfectly made," said Donna. "I can appreciate it because I work with leather myself."

"It's interesting," said Ian. "Wilma mentioned and showed a photo of your craft. "As a professional I can say that it looks really good and you can see that a lot of careful work has been done." continued the praise for Donna.

Donna found herself blushing. "He is really a nice and sweet old man." thought Donna.

"Did you have time to look around?" asked Ian.

Donna didn't know what to answer and looked away at the table with sticks. "A little, yes" answered. She touched one of the sticks. "What is this?" asked Donna.

"This is a cane," Ian said in a calm voice. "The rattan cane, more precisely named."

"What is it for?" asked Donna.

Ian hesitated to answer, looking a little confused. "To cause pain" he replied, looking her in the eye.

"What?" gasped Donna? She seems to be scared by such a straight answer.

"Donna, darling, most of these goods here are to cause pain," calmly explained Ian. "People take it and whip other people with it. Simple."

"But why?" asked Donna

"For pleasure, of course. Usually both parts are pleasurable," explained Ian. "To give and to take."